surface she was lying on after death. It looks like they were made by small twigs or sticks. Her clothes are being examined for spores and remnants now.”
“Was she undressed at any time, John?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. The twig marks are very faint, indicating that the pressure was through clothes, and there are creases in the Lividity on her back from what looks like the folds from her clothing. We’re checking her top for a match. There was nothing on the lower half because of her leggings.”
He paused, inviting questions.
“So she definitely wasn’t killed at the beach, Doc?”
“Definitely not. It may have been nearby but it’s hard to tell. Portstewart Strand is one of the last beaches that you can drive a car onto, so she was probably brought there by car. And before you ask, the C.S.I.s did their best with the tyre tracks but there were hundreds of them all over that stretch of beach so you’re looking at a dead end there.” John paused then restarted.
“OK. Lissy was killed somewhere where there were twigs, so maybe a garden or a wood, left on her back for less than six hours then brought to the beach to be buried in the sand. She was found on Thursday morning at seven o’clock but she could have been buried there days before. Her hand was visible when she was found so the sand protecting it had been washed away and it bore the marks of having been exposed to water for less than ten hours. I’d say if she was found on Thursday morning then the sand that was covering her had been worn away by the tide the night before.”
“OK, so uncovered overnight on Wednesday by the tide, but buried God knows when?”
John nodded. “That’s about the size of it, sorry. We’re trying to narrow time of death now, but the sand protected her from the water and she was cold the whole time. She would have been almost frozen and that throws T.O.D. off. Your best bet to narrowing things quickly is finding out who saw her last, or catching a break from someone who saw her abduction.”
Craig nodded. They needed to trace her last movements and interview her friends.
“We’ll come back to that in a minute. Andy, if you chase Davy on possible past victims of Wasson between ’83 and ‘89, then we can see if Liam’s theory of a female killer might run true, although she’d have to be a strong woman to strangle Lissy with her hands. Liam, check any male relatives of the rape victims as well as Veronica Jarvis’ sons. I’ll chase up the informant side with MI5 and speak to the Chief Constable. Liam, tell us what you found with Lissy Trainor’s friends and then Andy and I will update you on Jonno Mulvenna. I also have a slightly different theory of the crime.”
They all looked at him curiously but he waved Liam on.
“Aye well. I interviewed the girl next door, Billy Munroe but she hadn’t seen Lissy for two weeks - she was away with her mates in Greece for a fortnight. Then I interviewed her ex-university flatmate, Mary-Ann Eakin, but she’s been living in Dublin since the start of October and they only keep in touch by e-mail now. I canvassed the neighbours on both sides of the street but no-one remembers seeing Lissy since last Friday week when she was out in the front garden playing with her dog. That only leaves the boyfriend.”
“What have you got on him?”
“His name’s Conor Ryland. He lives with his dad. Like I said before, they knew each other at school but it seems they’ve only been dating since their first year at Uni. He was a well-known player at school, and both girls, Billy and Mary-Ann Eakin, said that he’d been getting up to his old tricks again and two-timing Lissy behind her back. Mary-Ann says Lissy dumped him three weeks ago and he’d been hassling her to give it another try, including waiting outside the place where she works part-time. He wasn’t home when I called last night, so I’ll chase him up today.”
“Where did she work?”
“A boutique
“Was she undressed at any time, John?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. The twig marks are very faint, indicating that the pressure was through clothes, and there are creases in the Lividity on her back from what looks like the folds from her clothing. We’re checking her top for a match. There was nothing on the lower half because of her leggings.”
He paused, inviting questions.
“So she definitely wasn’t killed at the beach, Doc?”
“Definitely not. It may have been nearby but it’s hard to tell. Portstewart Strand is one of the last beaches that you can drive a car onto, so she was probably brought there by car. And before you ask, the C.S.I.s did their best with the tyre tracks but there were hundreds of them all over that stretch of beach so you’re looking at a dead end there.” John paused then restarted.
“OK. Lissy was killed somewhere where there were twigs, so maybe a garden or a wood, left on her back for less than six hours then brought to the beach to be buried in the sand. She was found on Thursday morning at seven o’clock but she could have been buried there days before. Her hand was visible when she was found so the sand protecting it had been washed away and it bore the marks of having been exposed to water for less than ten hours. I’d say if she was found on Thursday morning then the sand that was covering her had been worn away by the tide the night before.”
“OK, so uncovered overnight on Wednesday by the tide, but buried God knows when?”
John nodded. “That’s about the size of it, sorry. We’re trying to narrow time of death now, but the sand protected her from the water and she was cold the whole time. She would have been almost frozen and that throws T.O.D. off. Your best bet to narrowing things quickly is finding out who saw her last, or catching a break from someone who saw her abduction.”
Craig nodded. They needed to trace her last movements and interview her friends.
“We’ll come back to that in a minute. Andy, if you chase Davy on possible past victims of Wasson between ’83 and ‘89, then we can see if Liam’s theory of a female killer might run true, although she’d have to be a strong woman to strangle Lissy with her hands. Liam, check any male relatives of the rape victims as well as Veronica Jarvis’ sons. I’ll chase up the informant side with MI5 and speak to the Chief Constable. Liam, tell us what you found with Lissy Trainor’s friends and then Andy and I will update you on Jonno Mulvenna. I also have a slightly different theory of the crime.”
They all looked at him curiously but he waved Liam on.
“Aye well. I interviewed the girl next door, Billy Munroe but she hadn’t seen Lissy for two weeks - she was away with her mates in Greece for a fortnight. Then I interviewed her ex-university flatmate, Mary-Ann Eakin, but she’s been living in Dublin since the start of October and they only keep in touch by e-mail now. I canvassed the neighbours on both sides of the street but no-one remembers seeing Lissy since last Friday week when she was out in the front garden playing with her dog. That only leaves the boyfriend.”
“What have you got on him?”
“His name’s Conor Ryland. He lives with his dad. Like I said before, they knew each other at school but it seems they’ve only been dating since their first year at Uni. He was a well-known player at school, and both girls, Billy and Mary-Ann Eakin, said that he’d been getting up to his old tricks again and two-timing Lissy behind her back. Mary-Ann says Lissy dumped him three weeks ago and he’d been hassling her to give it another try, including waiting outside the place where she works part-time. He wasn’t home when I called last night, so I’ll chase him up today.”
“Where did she work?”
“A boutique
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